Despite the resounding “NOOOOOOO!” heard around the world as the show launched—not to mention the utter dismay of social media users in both the UK and the US—Chris Evans is holding steadfast that the revamped show was a success. Evans took it to the critics earlier this week with a series of tweets explaining why the show was a hit. In one, he claimed that the show’s audience grew throughout the hour and was the most watched item on iPlayer.

Top Gear audience grew throughout the hour. FACT. Won its slot. FACT. Still number one on i Player. FACT. These are THE FACTS folks.

In another, he explained that the opening episode of his Top Gear actually beat out the opening episode of the last series with Clarkson, Hammond, and May.

The new Top Gear is a hit. OFFICIALLY. 23 % audience share. 12% MORE than the opening episode of the last series. These are the FACTS. — Chris Evans (@achrisevans) May 30, 2016

The show drew an average of only 4.3 million viewers, after Evans admitted that he would be “disappointed” if the ratings didn’t reach 5 million. It did trump the last time the show launched in 2002, though, when it only received 3.5 million viewers—but that was well before Clarkson, Hammond, and May became household names.

Needless to say, those Gear heads in the Twitterverse didn’t exactly agree with Evans’ claim that the show was a hit. There were a number of adjectives used to describe the new show, including “bloody awful,” “soulless,” “boring,” and “staged”. Yeah, I think it’s safe to say Top Gear wasn’t as successful as Evans believes.

Despite Clarkson’s notoriously scandalous behavior, he’s actually stayed surprisingly mum on the subject. Since the show debuted in the UK on Sunday, he has yet to send out a single tweet to give viewers an idea of what he’s thinking. Come to think of it, the only reference either of the original trio has made to the new show was this tweet from James may that was sent out shortly before it was broadcast:

I’m really looking forward to watching Top Gear without knowing what happens in the end. #NoSpoilerAlert

A born-and-raised Jersey girl, Caitlin Moran has somehow found herself settled in Edinburgh, Scotland. When she’s not spending her days trying to remember which side of the road to drive on, Caitlin enjoys getting down and nerdy with English. She continues to combine her love of writing with her love of cars for The News Wheel, while also learning more about the European car market—including the fact that the Seat brand is pronounced “se-at” not “seat” as you might think. See more articles by Caitlin.